REFORM AS REGULATION - ACCOUNTING, GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN UK
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
University of Southampton
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to theorise the recent
changes to accounting practices in local government in the UK. A range of
theories are discussed including regulation theory, hegemonic theory and
governance theories. Regulation and hegemonic theories attempt to explain major
changes in national economic structures by examining underlying systems of
capital accumulation, regulation and hegemony. Central to these structures and
systems are the role and operation of the state and its institutions. Governance
theories are concerned with understanding the conditions which favour different
governance structures for these institutions, comprising markets, hierarchies,
civil society, and heterarchic combinations of these structures.
Several researchers in these areas have
characterised ‘traditional’ institutional practices as Fordist and associated
with a particular regulatory mode. However, the underlying economic structure
is seen to be in crisis and a new Post Fordist regime may be emerging. Post
Fordism is associated with new institutional practices, particularly
decentralised management, contracting out of public services , extended use of
public private partnerships and
concerns for value for money, charters and league tables. The
introduction of such practices may therefore be explained by the changes in
underlying structures rather than as a teleological development of
accounting. Moreover some researchers
have characterised such changes as representing a fundamental shift from
government to governance. The very nature of the relationship between
governance, accountability and accounting may therefore have also changed. These
issues are explored in the paper.
The paper
commences with an outline of regulation, hegemony and governance theories
followed by a discussion of how these different approaches may contribute to an
understanding of local governance and its relationship to accountability and
accounting. The new public reforms, particularly those related to accounting,
are then discussed in relation to these approaches. The paper concludes with an
evaluation of these theoretical approaches and suggests further empirical work
to develop them.